Arrangement of equipment for remote monitoring of bodily functions

Abstract

An arrangement of equipment for the remote monitoring of bodily functions of a mammal under medical care, comprises: a function-measurement device to measure a physiological quantity relevant to bodily function; a first display unit disposed remotely from the function-measurement device and monitored by a responsible medical person, to display the measured values of the measured physiological quantity and a function characterization derived therefrom; an input unit disposed remotely from the function-measurement device, for the input of control commands for the function-measurement device, and to input warning signals; and a bi-directional public telecommunication-network connection with an outward channel between the function-measurement device and the first display unit and a return channel between the input unit and the function-measurement device, where, for each connected device, there is provided an interface adapted to a transmission protocol of the telecommunication network.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims the benefit of European Priority Application No. 02 008 958.7 filed in Europe on Apr. 22, 2002, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to monitoring physiologic data in real time, and more specifically to monitoring such data remotely. [0004] 2. Related Art [0005] Advances in medical technology have made it possible to treat a large number of diseases and disorders in such a way that although the affected people are not ultimately cured, they can have a good quality of life despite the disease. However, such illnesses (e.g., diabetes, various heart diseases, asthma, diseases of the rheumatic type, cancers, Alzheimer's disease, allergies) demand continuous medical care of the patients, because medications must be taken regularly, and long-term diagnostic monitoring by appropriate measureme...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011] The invention includes function-measurement devices situated near or on the subject, i.e. the patient, of the investigation, which are connected by way of a public telecommunication network to display units and / or automatic monitoring and control apparatus situated in the clinical or ambulant region. The use of a public network ensures not only considerable advantages of economy in comparison to specially established wireless routes, but also a practically unlimited system capacity and extraordinarily great availability of the communication link and hence convincing reliability of monitoring. When a mobile wireless network is employed, which is preferable from the present viewpoint, there is the additional advantage that the patient can be reached practically everywhere within range, without any gaps, at least in the industrialized countries.

[0018] In carrying out medical studies, but also when particular routines are to be followed, the compliance of the subjects, i.e. the degree of precision with which they conform to the prescriptions for taking medicines and using equipment, is of crucial significance. Here the invention contributes to recording the data reliably, managing the data and testing the data for correctness. The invention also enables devices to be employed in a simple manner for objective measurement of patient compliance.

Problems solved by technology

However, even in combination with visits to a doctor, this is not sufficient for successful therapy, because the latter requires a regular intake of medicines (particularly during symptom-free periods, when many patients tend to neglect their medication) as well as adjustment of the therapy schedule by the doctor to suit particular situations.

These last solutions to the problem of remote monitoring are unsuitable for a large health-monitoring system from which a large number of patients, especially the chronically ill, can benefit and which in its medical components can be operated by a widely branching network of clinics, physicians' practices and other medical-care sites, because the means of information transmission are very elaborate and because of specific technical properties of the transmission routes employed.

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